Factory reset on an Dell XP pc

mrtom

I'm about to restore to factory reset on an XP, are the service packs and updates still available?

Is this a solution?
http://www.ryanvm.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10321&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Capt'n Midnight

Try this, haven't tried to update XP in a while. It downloads patches from Microsoft.

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/wsus-offline-update/obtaining-the-latest-service-packsbuilds-of-internet-explorer/patching-windows-xp-fully-using-the-wsus-offline-update/

The WSUS Offline Update should be used to patch all Windows XP physical installations and virtual machines offline. It can be downloaded from the WSUS Offline Update Website:

http://download.wsusoffline.net/

Specifically version 9.2.1 should be used as its the last version that supports Windows XP:

http://download.wsusoffline.net/wsusoffline921.zip

Atlantic Dawn

Usually Dell have all the old files available, you can check online with the service tag number and it will show.

_Kaiser_

Realistically though you should be looking to update to Windows 7 or above as XP is now end-of-life and unsupported from a security/patching point of view.

PropJoe10

mrtom wrote: »

I'm about to restore to factory reset on an XP, are the service packs and updates still available?

Is this a solution?
http://www.ryanvm.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10321&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I wouldn't recommend that SP4 thing. That's an unofficial registry crack for XP that gives access to updates for XP Embedded, which is a point-of-sale version of XP that is still supported.

These updates arent tested against XP Home Edition by Microsoft, though, so you'd be risking breaking your XP install if an update goes bad.

Having said that, you should still get XP updates up to April 2014 by the usual method through Windows update, without running that SP4 hack.

If I were you, I'd be looking to get XP off your machine as its end-of-life. Maybe consider a simple Linux distribution if the PC is too old to run a modern Microsoft OS.

FanadMan

PropJoe10 wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend that SP4 thing. That's an unofficial registry crack for XP that gives access to updates for XP Embedded, which is a point-of-sale version of XP that is still supported.

These updates arent tested against XP Home Edition by Microsoft, though, so you'd be risking breaking your XP install if an update goes bad.

Having said that, you should still get XP updates up to April 2014 by the usual method through Windows update, without running that SP4 hack.

If I were you, I'd be looking to get XP off your machine as its end-of-life. Maybe consider a simple Linux distribution if the PC is too old to run a modern Microsoft OS.

I've been using that hack for XP on 12 machines that are being used for training and it works fine. Most of the updates are Malicious Software Removal Tools. In saying that, the auto update doesn't seem to work all the time - now and again I have to go through the MS website.

I seriously...and regularly question the owners about the computers they have there. They are all old Dell P4s running XP - how the hell are you supposed to teach intro to computers on these?

PropJoe10

FanadMan wrote: »

I've been using that hack for XP on 12 machines that are being used for training and it works fine. Most of the updates are Malicious Software Removal Tools. In saying that, the auto update doesn't seem to work all the time - now and again I have to go through the MS website.

I seriously...and regularly question the owners about the computers they have there. They are all old Dell P4s running XP - how the hell are you supposed to teach intro to computers on these?

Yeah I've used it myself on an XP VM I used to use but I wouldnt generally recommend it for a home user, purely because you never know when an update is going to bork the whole thing.

That's crazy, training machines running on XP? Windows XP really needs to be released into the wilderness. There's no future at all in training people on XP machines!

mrtom

Thanks for the input.
The Dell in question is “Dimension 9100”. A P4 3.2Ghz with 2 Gb Ram. 2006 vintage and my first performance pc.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1843027,00.asp

This is not my main computer and I use it primarily for viewing movies stored localy though HD can be chopy, BBC Player etc using VPN & connected to my tv with DVI / HDMI. The hardware doesn't support upgade. I use Aviator as a secure browser to minimise the inherent risk.
As the dell is getting slugish & I prep for reset,<Ctrl><F11>, I see my C Drive is seen as Disc 1 in Disc Management, with my 2nd HD listed as Disc 0. Not the default value I'm familiar with. Is this of consequence or another thread ?

Irish Steve

FanadMan wrote: »

I seriously...and regularly question the owners about the computers they have there. They are all old Dell P4s running XP - how the hell are you supposed to teach intro to computers on these?

Intro to computers, the amusing aspect of that is at a basic level, very little has changed in terms of how computing operates for a very long time, keyboard and mouse are still pretty much the same as they were back in the days of 486/100's and Windows 98, touch screens are starting to slowly appear in the newest desktop systems, but not in huge numbers, and things like the Office suite are pretty much the same in basic terms, albeit that Microsoft have messed around with the user interface on occasions just to confuse people.

The internet is faster than it used to be, and E-mail can have attachments, but XP handled most of them without too much aggravation.

A lot of commercial applications for things like accounts (I'm thinking about the market leaders like Sage) have been monumentally slow in bringing in real change to the way their packages do a lot of things, so bluntly, using XP to teach the basics is not an issue.

The latest version of Firefox works quite happily on XP, even if Internet Explorer is no longer safe to use.

There are a number of major companies, and Internet service providers, that are still using XP on their in house networks, and so far, despite all the prophets of doom that keep banging on about end of life, and security risks, the Internet hasn't fallen apart yet.

I'm writing this on a machine that's running Win 10, which is still a risk, especially for business, as there's no way for a corporate to be sure of what Microsoft are updating on the network, I have had several situations where the background updates and patches for 10 being processed outside of my control have caused problems.

For me, Microsoft have lost the plot, and are spiralling out of control towards a very uncertain future, I'm very reluctant to give W10 a positive vote at this time, 8 and 8.1 were a nightmare, 7 was OK, vista was a disaster, and that takes us back to XP, and for most users at this stage, it just works, and the bottom line for them is that if it's not broke, don't fix it, and Microsoft seem to be unable to grasp that fundamental concept.

OK, for advanced users, and tech support people, XP would not be a good learning platform, as there have been so many changes since then, but having said that, how many of those changes were changes for the sake of change is debatable.

FanadMan

Irish Steve wrote: »

Intro to computers, the amusing aspect of that is at a basic level, very little has changed in terms of how computing operates for a very long time, keyboard and mouse are still pretty much the same as they were back in the days of 486/100's and Windows 98, touch screens are starting to slowly appear in the newest desktop systems, but not in huge numbers, and things like the Office suite are pretty much the same in basic terms, albeit that Microsoft have messed around with the user interface on occasions just to confuse people.

The internet is faster than it used to be, and E-mail can have attachments, but XP handled most of them without too much aggravation.

A lot of commercial applications for things like accounts (I'm thinking about the market leaders like Sage) have been monumentally slow in bringing in real change to the way their packages do a lot of things, so bluntly, using XP to teach the basics is not an issue.

The latest version of Firefox works quite happily on XP, even if Internet Explorer is no longer safe to use.

There are a number of major companies, and Internet service providers, that are still using XP on their in house networks, and so far, despite all the prophets of doom that keep banging on about end of life, and security risks, the Internet hasn't fallen apart yet.

I'm writing this on a machine that's running Win 10, which is still a risk, especially for business, as there's no way for a corporate to be sure of what Microsoft are updating on the network, I have had several situations where the background updates and patches for 10 being processed outside of my control have caused problems.

For me, Microsoft have lost the plot, and are spiralling out of control towards a very uncertain future, I'm very reluctant to give W10 a positive vote at this time, 8 and 8.1 were a nightmare, 7 was OK, vista was a disaster, and that takes us back to XP, and for most users at this stage, it just works, and the bottom line for them is that if it's not broke, don't fix it, and Microsoft seem to be unable to grasp that fundamental concept.

OK, for advanced users, and tech support people, XP would not be a good learning platform, as there have been so many changes since then, but having said that, how many of those changes were changes for the sake of change is debatable.

Don't get me wrong - I am still a fan of XP......I've used it for years and found it really stable compared to ME and Vista. It's just that the instructor was teaching things like online banking and shopping on these machines. I installed Chrome and Firefox on them and told her not to use IE - was I listened to?

About 2 hours before each class I have to update the machines - they are so slow. And with 12 machines connected to a 3meg internet connection things get even slower Over the last year I've had to wipe/reinstall them all, replace a couple of hdds, a psu and two network cards. They are just a complete timesink at this stage......but why am I really complaining.....I get paid for this lol

PropJoe10

FanadMan wrote: »

Don't get me wrong - I am still a fan of XP......I've used it for years and found it really stable compared to ME and Vista. It's just that the instructor was teaching things like online banking and shopping on these machines. I installed Chrome and Firefox on them and told her not to use IE - was I listened to?

About 2 hours before each class I have to update the machines - they are so slow. And with 12 machines connected to a 3meg internet connection things get even slower Over the last year I've had to wipe/reinstall them all, replace a couple of hdds, a psu and two network cards. They are just a complete timesink at this stage......but why am I really complaining.....I get paid for this lol

The instructor was teaching people online banking in XP using Internet Explorer? Ah here!

Irish Steve

indeed, online banking with XP and IE is certainly living dangerously, and I can understand that 12 machines on 3 meg is not a lot of fun, especially if they're all going after the same information around the same time, that's not helpful.

Sounds like you are on a winner that's losing, if that makes sense, but while they are paying to stay where they are, that is their choice, and at least you know the hardware you're working with at this stage. I'd be sorely tempted to create a master disc of the base system that could be cloned to reset them before each course, it shouldn't take much work to get that into place, and save a lot of hassles.

Depending on the PSU's, you may well start seeing capacitor failures before too long, but that should be relatively easy to fix.

Bottom line. When it's no longer fun, it's time to find something else to do as a living.

FanadMan

Irish Steve wrote: »

....... I'd be sorely tempted to create a master disc of the base system that could be cloned to reset them before each course, it shouldn't take much work to get that into place, and save a lot of hassles.

Depending on the PSU's, you may well start seeing capacitor failures before too long, but that should be relatively easy to fix.

Clone disk? No way! I get paid by the hour Seriously though, I suggested this and was shot down - each machine has to be installed separate (licencing rubbish or something). The management is totally clueless tech-wise. Might eventually short out a few machines just to force them to upgrade :pac:

The model of computer is very reliable regarding capacitor problems (used to work Dell support when these were shipped). The PSU I replaced didn't have any blown or bulged capacitors, just seemed to stop working. The main replacement I've had to do is CMOS batteries - for some reason they only last about a year now, so have gone though quite a few.

Irish Steve

I'd be guessing that these machines are not used much, and are disconnected from power when not in use, that will not be helping the CMOS batteries, the life will be a lot shorter in that scenario.

It's a long time since I did it, but I think it's possible to use a clone base to set up, and then put the relevant licence information in, which would meet their licence requirements, but give you a simpler set up, and simpler doesn't have to be quicker, just easier